How to Care for a Pet Hermit Crab

One of the reasons hermit crabs make popular pets is because of their low maintenance requirements. It's true that hermit crabs don't require a high degree of care, but unlike many other types of pets, hermit crabs can even be looked after by children!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Aquarium
• Spray bottle
• Tank decorations
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Water dechlorinator
• Substrate
• Calcium supplement

1. Purchase, or otherwise acquire, a 10-gallon aquarium. Use the aquarium as your crab's habitat, making sure that the aquarium is an adequate size to accommodate the crab, its food, water, shells, tank decorations and roaming needs.

2. Buy a water dechlorinator from your local pet shop. Crabs are very sensitive to chlorine in water; contact with chlorine may cause a premature death.

3. Keep your crab's habitat at a suitable temperature. Temperatures below 72 degrees F can cause your crab to freeze; temperatures that are too hot can cause your crab to dehydrate and perish.

4. Regulate the humidity level in your crab's habitat. Keep it at a consistent level of at least 70 percent. Regulating the humidity ensures that your crab has a livable, moist environment that mimics its natural habitat.

5. Line your crab's habitat with clean substrate such as sand or coconut fiber. These types of substrates are most hospitable to the crab's daily and lifelong activities like tunneling and molting.

6. Provide your crab with food. Include pet store formulas, fruits, vegetables, treats and calcium supplements in its diet. Place the food in small, shallow shells.

7. Dechlorinate water for your crab to drink. Place the water in a small, shallow shell and replenish every day.

8. Add a calcium supplement to your crab's diet.

9. Put extra crab shells in your crab's habitat. Hermit crabs grow and regularly discard their shells and adopt new ones. Make sure that your hermit crab has plenty of shells to choose from.

10. Decorate the tank to engage your hermit crabs. Hermit crabs enjoy walking, climbing over and exploring tank decorations.

11. Clean your hermit crab's habitat regularly. Regular maintenance of the habitat ensures that your crabs have livable environments.

12. Bathe your hermit crab weekly. Grooming your crabs helps keep bacterial and debris build ups from occurring.

13. Mist the sides of your crab's habitat a few times a week with a spray bottle filled with water to maintain humidity levels.

14. Give your hermit crab a playmate. Hermit crabs are social creatures and enjoy the company of their kind. Your crab will grow increasingly more content with each new playmate.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not over-mist your crab's habitat. Too much water in the habitat may promote bacterial or mold growth.
• Never attempt to force a crab out of its shell. A crab will discard its shell and adopt a new one due to the time line of its own growth process.

[hermiemami]

on 6/25/2007 Land Hermit crabs need a bit more than this article suggests. In addition to fresh water they need saltwater. The salt should be an aquarium salt NOT table salt as table salt can be deadly to them. The substrait should also be deep enough for the crab to completely bury in for molting, a good rule for this is double the height of your hermit crab. Hermit crabs also actually do better in a heat and humidity a bit higher than suggested. If both heat and humidity is kept in the 80s the crabs should be healthy and happy. A thermometer and hydrometer should be kept in the tank to monitor these 2 things. A lid is a great way to keep the heat and humidity in. Bathing is also a debatable thing for hermits. If given water dishes adequate, that is, deep enough for them to submerge to their eyes they will bath themselves. It is less stressful for them this way.